New York Times article touts most effective study techniques

A recent New York Times article on effective study techniques also points the way toward good course design that supports learning and retention of material and concepts. For me, the real “takeaway lesson” of this article was that diversity of stimulus associated with learning is a key element in information retention. How many of us throw up our hands when we get students in advanced classes who have forgotten basic ideas from their intro sequence? Reading this article, it becomes even clearer that weaving key concepts throughout our courses, testing students’ knowledge of the same concepts frequently, and linking concepts to each other are all important aspects of increasing learning and retention of those concepts as students move through their coursework.